"Then they sat down together again and decided that this was how they wanted to do it" - Dylan van Baarle on post-Angliru Jumbo-Visma discussion

Dylan van Baarle supported Jonas Vingegaard to Tour de France success, and now the whole Jumbo-Visma climbing talents at the Vuelta a Espana. He talks about how the decision for the red jersey battle came along in the final week of the race.

"It’s been a long three weeks but we’re almost there. They had a good talk on the rest day and all three of them wanted to go for it," van Baarle shared with GCN. "Then on the Angliru they basically showed that the three of them were basically the same. Then they sat down together again and decided that this was how they wanted to do it, and how they wanted to go to Madrid."

And so they did. Without a single vulnerable day, neither Sepp Kuss, Jonas Vingegaard or Primoz Roglic had to give up their spot in the final podium. The Dutch team hence completes a clean sweep of all the Grand Tours and also the podium at the Vuelta. "For me, it doesn’t change much because we still ride on the front and if it’s for Sepp, Primož or Jonas it doesn’t really make a difference but for the three leaders, it’s now clear."

It is an abormal situation, the Dutchman admits as well that "for me, maybe it looked a bit strange in that sense, in that Sepp waited for Primož in 2020 when Primož was in the red jersey. They wanted to race for it, though, and that’s what they did. I’ve not felt anything strange or anything like that," he assures however. "We’ve been close since Barcelona onwards but I never had the sense that it changed."